SACRED SPACE EVADERS RELIGIOUS HEGEMONY IN GAMING JOURNALISM _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by GREGORY P. PERREAULT Dr. Timothy Vos, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2015 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled SACRED SPACE EVADERS RELIGIOUS HEGEMONY IN GAMING JOURNALISM presented by Gregory P. Perreault, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Professor Timothy Vos Professor Yong Volz Professor Stephanie Craft Professor Debra Mason Professor Richard Callahan ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS No scholar achieves his or her Ph.D. on sheer will, intellect or dedication alone. We are the product of our mentors and our supporters, and I have benefited many fantastic people who have supported me professionally, academically, and personally. First, I must thank my mentors. My early mentors—Terry Mattingly, from Palm Beach Atlantic University, and Kimberly Meltzer, from Georgetown University—gave shape to my scholarly interests and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I must thank Debra Mason, who has been a continual supporter and mentor of my research and an invaluable friend to my family. I must thank Richard Callahan who was willing to spend a year in independent study with me, introducing me to the literature of religious studies. I must also thank Stephanie Craft who helped guide me through my early introduction to journalism research and Yong Volz whose lessons from a qualitative research class and whose kind words got me through some difficult moments in the Ph.D. program. Finally, to Tim Vos. Tim’s time and effort on my behalf and so many other Ph.D. students both challenges my own time management skills (how does he juggle all that?) and is a credit to his personhood. Second, I must thank my personal cheerleaders. To my daughters, Evangeline (3) and Margery (8 months), I’m glad they will not be labored with remembering how hard I had to work at this time in my life but hope they always know how thankful I am for their smiles, which eased my weariness, and their love, which inspired me to work harder. To supportive family members and friends who have all patiently listened to me talk insistently (even on vacation) about my work. To my sister Edgerly, for the sacrifices she ii made to support me in the last year of my Ph.D. work and the many laugh-till-you-cry moments we have shared. And most of all, I must thank my wife Mimi. She has been a true partner both academically and personally. She has sat through many crazy research ideas and helped me make many of them less crazy. And she has encouraged me through the ups and downs of my Ph.D. studies. Mimi is the love of my life and I’m the better for having her in it. The research that follows is inspired by daughters. Growing up as a child of the 1980s, video games were not uncommon. But in the world my daughters are growing up in, games are the air they will breathe. Will these games create a world of greater inclusivity? Or let the usual suspects retain their power? What role will journalism play? I’d say right now that there are no clear answers. May this research help us ask the right questions. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………………….. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………………….iv ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………….vi Chapters 1. THE MODERNIST PARADIGM, RELIGION, AND GAMERGATE………………..... 1 The GamerGate Controversy 3 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE…………………………………………………………….. 6 The Modernist Paradigm of Religion 6 Theoretical Framework: Hegemony 16 Secondary Theoretical Perspective: Narrative Theory 25 Media and religion: The Culturalist Approach 27 Journalism and Reporting Religion 42 Digital Games 50 3. QUALITATIVE MULTI-METHOD STUDY DESIGN………………………………...65 Interviews 69 Narrative Framing Text Analysis 73 4. THE NATURE OF RELIGIOUS HEGEMONY……………………………………….. 82 Narrative Frames of Gaming Journalism 83 Narrating Difference 89 Narrating Religion, Ethics and Morals 92 Narrating Value of Technology and Society 99 Gaming Journalism, the Market, and the State 103 iv Questioning the Modernist Paradigm 109 5. HEGEMONY AND THE MODERNIST PARADIGM OF RELIGION………………117 Narratives from Gaming Journalism in 1993 118 Paradigmatic Change in Gaming Journalism 123 Modernist Protestantism 129 6. THE OPERATION OF RELIGIOUS HEGEMONY………………………………….. 134 Narrative Frames from Gaming Journalists 135 Gaming Journalists on Gaming 142 Implicit Religious Framework 145 The Operation of Religious Hegemony 151 7. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………… 155 How religious hegemony operates 156 The nature of religious hegemony 159 A paradigm shift in religious hegemony? 162 The Modernist Protestant paradigm 165 Coverage of religion by non-religion specialists 167 The utility of narrative theory in hegemonic research 169 Limitations and Future Research 171 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………. 175 APPENDIX A. Sample Interview Questions…………………………………………………………… 198 VITA……………………………………………………………………………………………. 201 v Sacred Space Evaders: Religious Hegemony in Gaming Journalism Gregory Perreault Dr. Timothy Vos, Dissertation Supervisor Abstract In the modernist paradigm, the news is assumed to be secular, or rather, devoid of religious content. Recent research implies that in actuality, journalism contains latent religious values (Silk, 1995; Underwood, 2002). This research aims to challenge the modernist paradigm by uncovering the religious hegemony operating in a niche area of journalism. This research explores the nature and operation of religious hegemony in gaming journalism through in-depth interviews with gaming journalists (n=17) and a narrative framing textual analysis of gaming journalism texts from 1993 and 2013 (n=116). Gaming journalism is a valuable resource for such research, in that much of digital gaming news still originates from outside of the American paradigm. Thus reporting on such content reveals normative conceptions about what American journalism considers normal and acceptable (Berdayes & Berdayes, 1998). By looking at the development of gaming journalism over a 20-year period, it is also possible to explore the extent to which a paradigm shift has taken place (Kuhn, 1996). This study makes a case that Modernist Protestantism is what has been normalized in gaming journalism conceptions of religion. Such research addresses central scholarly journalism concerns regarding objectivity, societal normalization through media, and misrepresentation of minority perspectives. vi CHAPTER 1- THE MODERNIST PARADIGM, RELIGION, AND GAMERGATE In newsrooms around the country, and in living rooms around the country, it is taken for granted that the news is secular. A holdover ideological position of modernity, journalism is viewed as being irreligious and, if operating as it should, then it is objective and scientific (Underwood, 2002). The modernist paradigm exists as a foundational set of assumptions that shape how producers and audiences view the nation as it is and as it should be. This is a part of a paradigm that has been increasingly challenged over the years, as writers and scholars have challenged the basic foundation of modernity (Rosen, 2004; Silk, 1995; Taylor, 2007). Modernity is the foundation of the assumption that the secular and the religious exist in mutual exclusivity, but in reality this is not necessarily the case. Secularism itself is a necessary part of the modernist religious paradigm in terms of how it articulates itself, but this divide is no longer sufficiently explanatory regarding contemporary American religion (Taylor, 2007). Applying the concept of secularism to gaming journalism is a fitting location in that there are few other types of journalism where journalists spend perhaps half of their time examining narrative content that is not from within an American cultural context (Seizing the computer, 1999). Gaming journalism itself is an interesting area of study in that for much of its existence, much of gaming journalism was not actually journalism but advertising—at its best it was editorial in content (Nieborg & Sihvonen, 2009). Gaming journalism can be described as a niche that crosses the boundaries of technology and business journalism and that deals solely with topics related to digital games. The norms in such journalism include news about game development companies, news about 1 new technologies that may be used for digital games, reporting about current trends in gaming as well as largely editorial reviews and previews of upcoming digital games (Nieborg & Sihvonen, 2009). Indeed, much of gaming journalism still is editorial in content, but journalists in this niche show an increasing degree of methodological rigor – quoting authoritative sources, referencing supplementary documents and generally expressing independence from the industry itself. As Nieborg and Sihvonen (2009) imply, in many regards, gaming journalism is technology or business journalism with a hyper-niche focus. But the content examined can be a challenge as a result of its cross- cultural nature, in that many games for sale in America were developed in Japan. American and Japanese games differ according to their narratives and their historical origins